Resources
A brief history of the Guided Pathways movement excerpted from research from the CCRC, with contributions by the AACC Pathways Project (2015).
The idea behind guided pathways is straightforward. College students are more likely to complete a degree in a timely fashion if they choose a program and develop an academic plan early on, have a clear road map of the courses they need to take to complete a credential and receive guidance and support to help them stay on plan.
Dr. Rob Johnstone, National Center for Inquiry & Improvement “This report is designed for higher education leaders and explores ten commonly asked questions about implementing guided pathways. It addresses concern about compromising our higher education values, practical considerations about control and enrollment, and apprehensions about the impact on students’ learning and development—all issues that will need to be addressed to successfully pursue a guided pathways effort.”
Dr. Rob Johnstone, Kelley Karandjeff, EdM, National Center for Inquiry & Improvement “This report is the second in a series of resources designed for higher education leaders and explores 10 new “momentum” questions reflective of the uptake in guided pathways across our nation’s colleges. It addresses inquiries related to culture change, implications for the student experience, practical concerns for educators, and operational considerations and is designed to support institutions in ground-level planning and implementation.”
Research shows that early momentum metrics are predictors of long-term success. These near-term metrics can help formulate and guide continuous improvement efforts in student success reform.
"This overview describes the barriers to student success created by the way most community colleges are currently organized. It describes the key design features of the guided pathways model, describes the process for implementing it and outlines reasons why college leaders should consider doing so despite the costs involved."
Redesigning America’s Community Colleges: A Clearer Path to Student Success, by Thomas Bailey, Shanna Smith Jaggars and Davis Jenkins, Harvard University Press, 2015.
John Fink
To successfully implement the Guided Pathways framework, college leaders need to engage faculty and staff broadly in the institution in identifying barriers to student success created by the college; and create cross-functional teams to redesign programs, practices, and systems at scale in ways that facilitate program exploration, planning, learning, and completion. . . . Building Momentum is an important new report in which the Center for Community College Student Engagement provides a first systematic look at whether students and faculty say they are experiencing guided pathways reforms at their colleges.
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